1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mechanism for fixing a carriage of a printing apparatus. More particularly, the present invention relates to a mechanism for fixing a carriage so as to prevent damage to the carriage upon itsmovement by an impact during the transportation of a printing apparatus having plate-like side frames disposed at both sides of the printer apparatus, a guide rail extending between the side frames, and the carriage supporting a print head and adapted to be reciprocally guided along the guide rail.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a conventional printing apparatus, a platen is disposed to be parallel to a guide rail, and a carriage is reciprocally guided along the guide rail. A printing head is mounted on the carriage. At the time of printing, the carriage is reciprocally driven by a drive mechanism, and the printing head on the carriage prints information on paper guided by the platen.
During the transportation of the printing apparatus, the carriage is moved along the guide rail upon application of external vibrations and impacts, and the carriage strikes against a frame or the like of the printing apparatus. In this case, the carriage, the printing head mounted thereon, and the like are often damaged.
In order to prevent the printer components from being damaged, the carriage is moved to the right or left end at the time of shipment of the printing apparatus from a factory. The carriage is fixed to the frame of the printing apparatus through a band or the like, thereby preventing the frame and the like from being damaged. The band is exemplified by a conventional bundle fastener used for packaging the wires.
However, the carriage must be manually fixed to the frame through the bundle fastener, and such manual operation is burdensome. Packing efficiency for printing apparatuses in the production line is degraded. When the carriage is to be released from the frame, the bundle fastener must be cut off and cannot be used again. When a printing apparatus installed in an office or the like is required to be relocated, the carriage must be fixed again by another bundle fastener. However, such a bundle fastener is not often available in an office or the like. The printing apparatus is then transported while the carriage is not fixed to the frame, thereby causing damage to the carriage and the like.
A mechanism is proposed to eliminate the above disadvantage. In this mechanism, a printer component is utilized to easily fix the carriage, which does not require a separate carriage fixing member. An example of such a mechanism is described in Japanese Utility Model Application No. 60-184974 filed by the present assignee on Nov. 29, 1985. The same application was also applied to the United States of America on Nov. 26, 1986, claiming priority and has Ser. No. 934,960.
In the above prior patent application, a hook extends from a lever disposed at an end of a guide rail for guiding a carriage so as to adjust a distance between the guide rail and a platen and hence a distance between a printing head and the platen. When the lever is pivoted by an angle exceeding the normal pivotal angle adjustment range, the hook is engaged with the side portion of the carriage to fix the carriage. In this mechanism, the carriage can be fixed without using a separate fixing member. Carriage fixing operation at the time of shipment in a factory can be simplified. In addition, once the printing apparatus installed in an office is required to be transported to another location, the carriage can be easily fixed. However, this prior invention can be applied to only printing apparatuses with a proper member such as a lever.